I asked what drew her to this subject. It turns out there's a personal connection.
"My husband's grandfather had leprosy and was one of thousands of Americans with the disease confined at the U.S. leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana," she notes. "We only discovered that fact 60 years after his death because it had been kept a family secret due to the stigma. When I found out about Carville, I decided to write my book -- Carville's Cure: Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice."
Leprosy -- also known as Hansen's Disease -- is greatly misunderstood, says Fessler. It is not highly contagious and can be cured with antibiotics. And it continues to circulate.
"During the course of writing the book, I was surprised to learn that thousands of people in India still had the disease," Fessler says. "And many still live in leprosy colonies due to the same stigma that plagued my husband's grandfather in the 1930s in the U.S.
"Visiting these colonies was pretty emotional for me, especially seeing the impact on the children and grandchildren of the original leprosy patients. They are still discriminated against even though they never had the disease."
You received this message because you're subscribed to Global Health emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002
